Georgia Tech closed out the final seven minutes of Wednesday’s game on a 19-6 run to take the lead and give North Carolina its second conference loss of the season. The tar heels fall to 5-4. This is their worst start to a season since starting 2001-02 with a 4-5 record.
With a new starting lineup consisting of RJ Davis, Kerwin Walton, Andrew Platek, Day’Ron Sharpe and Armando Bacot for the first time this season, UNC never lagged behind in the first half. Most of it, however, was attributed to the Yellow Jackets shooting 44 percent off the floor and 30.8 percent from three with eight turnovers. In the second half, Ga. Tech shot 61.5 percent off the floor, 66.7 percent from three and five turnovers.
Two tar heels end in double digits. Bacot led the team with 14 points and Leaky Black had 10 points with him on 5-out-7 shooting. UNC made eight tries of the season, thanks to three deep balls by Walton and two by Caleb Love.
Read below all the comments of UNC head coach Roy Williams, and check out his interview with media members here:
Georgia Tech scored 43 points in the second half. What allows teams to score the second half?
“Okay, this is not just a second-half problem. We got our kick in the first half. The defensive end of the floor was a problem for us. We have not yet had turnover like we could in the past, and a team shoots 61% – you do not get turnover and they shoot 61% – so your defense is not very good. You could say that we play a lot of freshmen and that they did not buy enough of it. But the defensive end of the floor is the most important at this level of university basketball. Everyone has guys who can make shots if they are not guarded, but special teams have guys who can make shots if they are really protected, and we give them too many open shots. They make three straight possessions … and we did not once have the right matches and did not pick up the guy. And so these are some breakdown points. The defensive end of the floor was more important to us. In games with lower points, it should also be more important because we are not gifted enough to be offensive. We scored eight tries tonight. It was more than we made, but going two-for-seven from the foul line in the second half does not help you. So those are a lot of things, guys. ”
Six points in the last seven minutes. What were some of the problems there?
‘Well, we missed some, I can not remember if it was some free throws. It was perhaps earlier than that. But we had an open spot, Garrison missed an open (of) about 10 feet … Armando missed one; he banked it off the board and came to the other side. You know, you stop runs by other people by scoring yourself or getting defensive stops. And we could not sustain the pressure on them by scoring, nor could we stop. So it was not just our defense, guys. ”
Explain the changes in the starting line-up and the starting line-up in the second half
“We went into the decision more than anything because of our defensive ranks in the North Carolina State game, but there are a lot of things that make decisions about who starts and who doesn’t start. The hardest one was Garrison because his defense was not as bad as the other two, but at the same time I try to treat everyone fairly. And at rest I decided to just go with different people. I trust Garrison, but even Garrison needs to be kept on a high standard defensively, and Leaky, I think, can be one of the best defensive players in the league and he needs to be kept on a high standard defensively. And Caleb, too, his defense was very bad in the state of North Carolina. And everyone finally played. I tried to get to them, it really did not make much difference with whom you start. It really does not. I mean, Marvin Williams never started a game for us and we won a national championship and he was the second player taken in the NBA draft. Steve Woodbury in Kansas never once started a game for us during his entire junior year, and he ended up being the two-team conference. You must therefore be successful, whether you are a sub- or starter. ‘
For the first time since the start of the season never left behind in the first half
“You know, we turned it around ten times in the first half. It’s not exactly like we played well. Georgia Tech helped us with the ability to make shots in the first half as well as in the second half. They turned it around a few times themselves, but we were able to take the lead. I was not happy with the way we played, but again I think the change in the starting line-up had nothing to do with us having the lead. We just got the ball inside a bit and made baskets there, but played the whole game. ‘
Starting starting team changes a sudden decision or something you thought of?
Guys, you have to understand, I make a lot of decisions. I do not put it through the freakin ‘press and all. If you want me to tell you, the defenses are sucking. They were not only bad, but terrible. And I do not have to … Well, I decided to start different guys. It made no difference how much they played. They still played minutes. You watch the state game and you tell me if you thought we were defensively good.
What is not translated between practice and games?
“We focus. I would say again the focus on the defensive end of the floor. Our movement without the ball at the offensive point of the floor. And guys who practice shooting do not necessarily make them a lot of games. And then the head coach unscrews it himself. ”